Vampires Rule by K.C. Blake Page B

her head and stared at him with
eyes clouded by betrayal. “Why did you do it? I thought you liked
being with us.”
    “I did.”
    “No way!” Summer shrieked. “You cannot be
human, not after everything we went through together. I saved your
life!”
    Cowboy agreed. “We took you into our group,
made you one of us. How did you do it? How did you become human
again?”
    “I didn’t change on purpose, guys.”
    Summer shrugged. Her voice lowered to its
normal husky state. “It doesn’t matter how he did it. We can change
him back. I’ll bite him, and we’ll go home.”
    “No.” Jack tried to find the right words. He
was walking a dangerously thin line with them. They had been his
friends, and he would have trusted them with his life, but things
had changed. They had become his enemies overnight. “It happened
for a reason. I can’t explain right now. You need to trust me.
There’s a reason I’m human again. I have a destiny none of us knew
about.”
    “Destiny.” Cowboy practically spit the word
from his mouth. “Since when do you believe in that garbage?”
    Cowboy drew closer, his black eyes filled
with menace. His upper lip curled, revealing his fangs. He could
jump on Jack, tear his throat out, and there wasn’t anything Jack
could do to stop it.
    He stood his ground on shaky legs, determined
to stand up to Cowboy.
    “I’m going to give you some time to rethink
your position,” Cowboy said. “If you aren’t with us, then you’re
against us. If you’re against us, we’ll kill you.”
    “No!” Lily moved fast. In a flash she blocked
him from Cowboy and cried, “You aren’t going to kill him! He’s my
friend. He’s our friend. Try to remember that. We’re family.”
    “Not anymore,” Cowboy said. “Not if he
chooses to stay mortal.”
    “I’m with Cowboy on this,” Summer said. “We
aren’t friends with humans. You can’t stand with him on this one,
Lily. It’s over. He’s walked away from us.”
    “No.” Lily spun around. Her eyes glistened
with tears. “Please, Jackpot, you have to come with us. We’re
family. I love you.”
    Words caught in Jack’s throat, choking him.
There was nothing he could say to spare her pain. The other two
were right this time. They couldn’t be friends, not now, not ever.
Vampires and humans were born enemies.
    Cowboy shook a finger at Jack. “You are
powerless now, buddy. We can do whatever we want. We can kill your
stupid brother and hang his head on a stick in the front yard.
Nothing you can do about it. Make the right choice or it will be
your funeral.”
    Cowboy was gone in a flash, leaving a cloud
of dust behind him.
    Summer took a step closer and sniffed the
air. “You even smell human now. Why would you want to join them? Is
there someone keeping you from us? Is it your brother?”
    He couldn’t read her mind, but he knew her
well enough to know what she was thinking. She would kill Billy
without giving it a second thought if she thought Jack had chosen
him over her. He definitely wasn’t going to mention Silver.
    He took a deep breath and said, “You know I
was never truly happy as a vampire. I missed almost everything
about being human. I didn’t revert on purpose, but I’m glad it
happened.”
    “Big mistake.”
    Summer took off as fast as Cowboy had.
    “What’s it like to be human again?” Lily
asked after the others were out of earshot.
    She was the only one out of the three who
would understand. He smiled. “It’s incredible, better than I
remember. Food tastes better than I remember, and it’s good not to
have to worry about sunlight anymore. My emotions are a little out
of whack right now. I’m having trouble controlling my temper, but
it’s still great.”
    “It won’t be the same without you.”
    “I’ll miss you too.”
    She took a few steps away from him. “I won’t
be able to stop them if they decide to kill you.”
    “I know.”
    “But I won’t help them do it.”
    She moved so fast she was gone